Auger electron spectroscopy investigations of the effect of degradation of depth resolution and its influence on the interdiffusion data in thin film Au/Ag, Cu/Ag, Pd/Au and Pd/Cu multilayer structures

2001 ◽  
Vol 175-176 ◽  
pp. 790-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Bukaluk
2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Raman ◽  
D. F. Paul ◽  
J. S. Hammond ◽  
K. D. Bomben

Over the past decade, the field of nanotechnology has expanded, and the most heavily used nanoscale characterization/imaging techniques have been scanning probe microscopy (SPM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Although these high-resolution imaging techniques help visualize nanostructures, it is essential to understand the chemical nature of these materials and their growth mechanisms. Surface modifications in the first few nanometers can alter the bulk properties of these nanostructures, and conventional characterization techniques, including energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) associated with SEM and TEM are not suited to detecting these surface modifications except in special, favorable specimens. A modern state-of-the-art scanning Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) instrument provides valuable elemental and chemical characterization of nanostructures with a lateral spatial resolution better than 10 nm and a depth resolution of a few nm. In this article we review the technique of scanning AES and highlight its unique analytical capabilities in the areas of nanotechnology, metallurgy, and semiconductors.


2001 ◽  
Vol 08 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 245-249
Author(s):  
K. YOKOTA ◽  
K. NAKAMURA ◽  
S. TAMURA ◽  
S. ISHIHARA ◽  
I. KIMURA

Gallium arsenide was anodically oxidized in a mixture of ethylene glycol and tartaric acid as an electrolyte. The numbers of Ga and As atoms in the anodic oxide films and in the used electrolytes were measured by radioactivation analysis. During the anodic oxidation, GaAs dissolved into the electrolyte. The numbers of Ga and As atoms that dissolved into the electrolytes was proportional to the anodic voltage, and the number of Ga atoms in the electrolyte was about five times more than that of As atoms. The composition of the anodic oxide films varied with depth. However, the atomic profiles measured by Auger electron spectroscopy displayed As atoms much less than Ga atoms throughout the anodic oxide films, because Ga oxides were lost from the anodic oxide films into the vacuum during the Auger electron spectroscopy, accompanying sputtered thin film removal.


Author(s):  
Noel C. MacDonald

During the past several years, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) has developed from a research curiosity to a practical surface chemical analysis technique. The practical applications of AES have been further increased by combining AES with simultaneous ion sputter etching; this powerful combination of AES and sputter etching is now routinely used to chemical profile thin film and other composite structures with a depth resolution of 10 - 50 Å. AES is sensitive to all elements except hydrogen and helium, and spectra for the majority of the elements are now cataloged in one reference source.AES is performed by electron bombarding a solid surface and energy analyzing the resulting secondary electrons. The secondary electrons that have undergone Auger transitions produce small peaks in the secondary electron distribution function, and the positions of these peaks in energy are used to identify the elements producing the transitions.


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